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Last week, I wrote about how low-cost carrier, Avelo Airlines signed an agreement with the United States Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Immigration Control and Enforcement (ICE) agency to carry out deportation flights from Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA) in Arizona. Three of the airline’s Boeing 737-800 aircraft will be used to fly domestic and international flights on behalf of the DHS. This did not sit right with many people and a petition to boycott the airline is circulating. To date, almost 31,000 people have signed.
It’s not unheard of for commercial airlines to transfer and remove migrants in support of immigration and deportation efforts. ICE’s air operations division conducts special high-risk charter flights on an as-needed basis to remove migrants who have failed to comply with deportation orders or are deemed a security risk. Other immigration flights are typically carried out with US military or charter airlines. Avelo’s CEO, Andrew Levy, released a statement around the airline’s decision. It reads:
After significant deliberations, we determined this charter flying will provide us with the stability to continue expanding our core scheduled passenger service and keep our 1,100 crewmembers employed for years to come.”
Avelo spokesperson, Courtney Goff, told USA TODAY:
We acknowledge the weight of these concerns and have received the feedback. Regardless of the administration or party affiliation, as a US flag carrier when our country calls and requests assistance our practice is to say yes.”
Avelo Airlines plans to open yet another base at Mesa Gateway Airport (AZA) and is currently hiring flight attendants, pilots, and technicians in the area. One has to wonder how comfortable they will be flying these flights even though job postings for flight attendants explicitly state their nature. Other Avelo employees will also have the opportunity to transfer to this new base according to Fox 5 Vegas. Flights are scheduled to begin on May 12th. As of last month, Arizona had the fifth highest level of ICE detainees.
The New Haven Immigrants Coalition, an immigrant rights group based in Connecticut where Avelo has grown significantly, created Change.org petition for the airline to end the federal contract. The petition reads in part:
We demand that Avelo Airlines halt plans to carry out deportation flights in cooperation with the Trump Administration. We pledge to boycott the airline until they stop plans to profit off ICE flights that are tearing families and communities apart and removing some legal residents, such as Maryland father Kilmar Abrego Garcia, with no recourse for returning to their families.”
The union representing the flight attendants employed at Avelo has also come out against the contract and says that it will stand by its members who take action based on their morals around the deportation flights.
Anthony’s Take: Immigration and the handling of migrants has become a highly politicized issue. While it’s not abnormal for commercial airlines to carry out deportation flights, it seems like Avelo is getting lots of attention it did not want for it.
(Image Credits: Avelo Airlines.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
3 comments
An airline in financial trouble is doing what they can to stay alive, this is not a good look for them of course, but desperate times I guess call for desperate measures. Delta, United, Southwest etc. would never do something like this. What is the security situation on the plane itself? I would not want to be a flight attendant working with people who are not going to be a happy state of mind on the flight.
Is the list public? The 31,000 people who signed the list should be required to take in and support the illegal aliens, each of them gets 1 to place in their home, to pay for the food, shelter, clothing, medical bills, and whatever else. Problem is solved!
Oh the 31, 000 leftwing activists that don’t fly and live in their parents basement… Hmm